The love of friends
by Kid Q
Summary: TM fic. Max discovers she has feelings for Terry, then finds out Terry is Batman. Instead of taking Dana's place, she becomes Batman's sidekick. How long can Max be second in Terry's heart? Slow development, be patient.
1. Chapter 1

This is a Batman Beyond fanfics. I miss the show, but can't remember a damn thing about it – so I wrote this! I plan on corrupting a lot of (what I remember of) the show's storyline. Be warned. Oh, and this will be a T/M fic, eventually. R&R, it helps :)

* * *

Batman Beyond and related characters are owned by DC comics (yay!). 

High school isn't that bad. Sure, Hill High is run by the traditional high school "clique" system. But like a computer system, I managed to hack myself in and make things work for me. Sometimes I wish I could do that to my family. Just push a few buttons and make them work around me. But, no matter how many awards or competitions I win my family always runs away from me to some important business trip.

I spend most of my time alone. Thinking about what I can do to win my family's love, what I can do to prove myself. I finally realized today what I had to do. I have to find out the identity of Batman. It's a mystery that no one has been able to solve. But I will. Batman prepare to meet Max Gibson.

I decided to let my good friend, Terry McGinnis, and his girlfriend, Dana Tan, in on my project. To be honest, I didn't have much choice. McGinnis noticed I was spending less time in at the video arcade and Dana noticed I was spending less time in the school library; the two put it together and decided to confront me in the computer lab after school. Sometimes its cute how the two of them try to convince me of something, makes me think about my parents.

"You're joking," Dana looks at me in surprise, but somehow manages a chuckle.

"It's a simple profiling program. The FBI has been using it for over a -"

"You aren't the FBI, Max. You could get hurt, and -," Dana shifts effortlessly into "mom" mode. She rattles off a list of reasons for me to not do continue my work, each sounding more heartfelt than the last. Her reasons don't change my resolve one bit, but the fact that she is trying so hard to stop me – I want to stop for her. A cell phone rings, its Dana's.

"No way! When?" Dana turns her back and shifts back into teenage pop diva. "Ok, but I'm still at school." They must be planning to go to a party or shopping. I just stare at Dana's back. Even from this view, she is beautiful. Long black hair, thin waist, slim legs, encased in pale white skin and complimented by a thin form fitting, knee-kissing sky blue dress…she fits so many beauty standards – no wonder McGinnis likes her. I glance over at McGinnis. His head is down, jet black hair just covering his eyes, and hands in his pockets -- the classic McGinnis stance. He is staring at the computer screen. He had been like that since I revealed my plan.

"Guys, I gotta run," Dana had finalized her plans. She hugs me goodbye and whispers in my ear, "Stop before he stops you." She turns gracefully and balancing on tiptoe, kisses McGinnis goodbye, then disappears through the door. Terry had bent down and kissed his girlfriend goodbye, but his mind stayed on the computer. I wonder if he even heard what she said.

I can't resist myself, "Wow, you are handling getting dumped pretty well."

"What? But I thought –wasn't she just going to -" Terry rushes to the door and looks out, "Dana?"

I can't hold it any longer, giggles and tears come pouring out of me.

"Ha Ha, Max. You know we have been fighting a lot recently," Terry gives me that sad, pouty look that makes me want hold and snuggle him. Damn those blue eyes and dark hair…opposites really do attract. Wait, what am I saying?

"Dana was right. You need to stop looking for Batman,"

"I'm not looking for Batman. I'm looking for the man who dresses up as Batman."

"The man who dresses up as Batman IS Batman," his tone was finite and he followed it with a "this conversation is over" look just to drive the point home. "It's getting late, I promised Matt I would take him to the arcade. Want to come with?"

"Sure, I got nothing better to do," you win for now, McGinnis.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 -- Max baby sits Matt. Terry makes a new enemy.

I'm experimenting with chapter length and fight sequences. Please R&R

Batman Beyond and related characters are owned by DC comics (yay!).

* * *

The last few weeks have been, well "Matt-tastic." I think Terry's trying to distract me from my Batman search by having me hang out with his little brother. And I hate to admit it, but its working. As I walk up the steps to Terry's house, ready for another night with Matt, I think about just turning around and going home. If I turn around right now, then I could recreate the program on my laptop and work without any distractions. I need to leave before anyone sees me, so I can call and pretend to be sick. As I turn to run home, I hear the door open behind me. 

"Max, you're here! Thank goodness." Its Mrs. McGinnis. She's wearing black tear-drop earrings and a strapless black dress. Oh right, its Friday and Mrs. McGinnis was going out on a date. I feel a ping of guilt as I look at the made up Mrs. McGinnis. She hasn't been on a date since Mr. McGinnis' sudden murder two years ago. A bit surprising considering that Mr. and Mrs. McGinnis had been separated for a year before the murder. But Mrs. McGinnis had taken the murder hard, and had only just begun dating again. I can't believe I thought about sneaking away out and ruining her date.

"I was worried you wouldn't get here in time. Terry was supposed to stay until you got here, but he had to run off for Mr. Wayne," Mrs. McGinnis spoke to me while checking the contents of her purse. I could see a few condom wrappers nestled into the corner of the purse – go Mrs. M.

"Yea, old Wayne keeps him busy. What can I say? There's something about old men and young boys," or young boys and their sexy young girlfriends. I don't believe for one minute that Bruce Wayne would need the assistance of teenage boy as often as Terry claims he does. It's probably just some lie he tells when he was trying to hide something – like sex with his girlfriend.

"Well, at least Terry is more stable. Wayne has had some influence on him," Mrs. McGinnis finished with her bag and looked up at me, "And you too, Max. You have been a great friend."

I'm at a lost for words, "T-Thanks Mrs. –"

"Max, did you bring it," Matt pushed through his mother's legs.

"Hi, Matt it's nice to see you too," I reach into my backpack and pull out the game Matt begged me to bring over.

"Schway," Matt disappears back through his mom's legs.

"Well, I'll see you two later. Thanks again Max," Ms. McGinnis gets in her car and pulls away into the night.

"Have fun," I say to the fading car.

"Max! You're missing it," Matt calls to me from the living room.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

"How are things with Max," Bruce drones over the communication systems.

"I think she's given up on finding Batman," Terry responds to his mentor. It's Friday night and he's on night patrol. Dana was not happy. We argued all day about my "part time job", but it ended like most of our arguments these days – Dana getting too flustered to speak and stomping away. So here I am. Alone and flying over the industrial section of Gotham City following up on some tip Bruce had gotten from an old friend.

"She just gave up? That doesn't sound like Max," Bruce continues his inquisition.

How does he know what Max "sounds" like? I'm not in the mood to be lectured by the all knowing old man. "She didn't exactly give up. I set her up with Matt, I doubt she'll have the energy to do any extra projects."

"Max is a smart, resourceful girl. Do you really think a seven year old boy can stop her?"

I'm getting sick of this conversation. Can't he trust me to do anything right? "You know a lot about Max for someone who never met her."

"As much as you talk about her, I feel like her boyfriend."

"Her boyfriend? You're a little too old-"

There was a loud bang from a small warehouse to the left of the bat jet.

"Time to work," Terry spoke as he ejected from the cockpit.

On the rooftop, Batman sees a large hole in the side wall of the warehouse. "Looks like someone used an explosive to get inside. Must be amateurs, should be easy."

"Looks can be deceiving. Be careful, I'm not in town to patch you up after another beating," Bruce's voice comes through the speakers in Batman's ears.

"Its just a few jokerz, two to be exact, I can handle it." With that, he drops to the ground just behind the two jokerz.

"Cute couple, mind if I cut in?" Batman quickly tackles the larger of the two Jokerz into the warehouse wall. Releasing the guy, he steps back and delivers a hard left-right combo that knocks out the joker. The smaller of the two jokerz ran to the truck as soon as he saw Batman attack his comrade. He had heard stories about the Batman and he didn't want to become another one of his victims. Besides, he wasn't here to fight with Batman; he wasn't even here to steal from the warehouse. He was bait. He fumbles the keys, but manages to start the engine. If he could only get out of here, then he would be safe. He watches in the rear view mirror as Batman finishes with his partner and moves towards the truck.

Batman begins to move towards the truck, as the joker pulls off. "Oh no you don't," Batman says to no one in particular. Batman turns on the jets in his suit in hopes of speeding up to the truck. But as he soon as he turns on the jets, he feels a backward tug against his ankles. "I've waited so long for you," a calm voice floats from behind batman. Batman turns to face – "Dr. Cuvier?"

"You wish," with a smirk, the creature whips Batman through the hole in the warehouse wall. Batman flies through the air, then slides on his back across the warehouse floor and into a support pillar. Damn, where did he come from?

"I hope I didn't kill you that quickly, Batman."

"Who are you?"

"Good, you are alive."

Batman turns on the suit jets and climbs to a catwalk high above. The creature is standing in the entrance, scanning the warehouse. He looks just like Dr. Cuvier did after he spliced himself into man-tiger creature, but Cuvier was dead. He died thanks to his own splicing. "Answer my question"

"Well, I suppose you killed Dr. Cuvier too quickly to find out about me. Gotham will come to know me as Chimeras. You shall know me as murderer," with that Chimeras spreads a pair of hawk wings, and flies at Batman.

"I found you," Chimeras grins through lion fangs, "let's finish this." He lunges at Batman, as the two collide Batman rolls Chimera over and straddles his chest. Batman delivers punch after punch to Chimeras' face, but even though he is bleeding Chimeras just laughs. Chimeras reaches up and grabs Batman's neck from behind. His claws rip at the not so fragile material of the suit as he flings Batman of his chest and down to the ground below.

Batman recovers and glides to the ground safely. Police sirens can be heard approaching. Batman realizes that he has to either subdue Chimeras or lure him away very quickly.

"Hmm…sounds like our meeting has been cut short. Don't worry, we'll meet again." Chimeras spreads his wings and flies through the glass paneling in the ceiling.

Bruce suddenly returned to the world, "Is that what you call amateur?"

Its 2:00am, where the hell is Terry? Granted, I didn't have anything to do tomorrow, and his staying out so late gave me some free time to recreate my profiling program, but I did want to sleep in my own bed tonight. Well, another night on the McGinnis couch.

There's a rustling noise from the kitchen. Oh, Matt didn't you eat enough pizza? I get up and stumble to the kitchen. "Matt, didn't you – Terry?"

"Yea, sorry, I'm so late," Terry spoke with his back towards me, rummaging through the fridge for food. My eyes slide up Terry's legs. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, his PJs. They were in no way sexy pants, but I loved watching Terry when he wore them. Over the past weeks, I developed a crush on Terry. A crush I blame on those sweatpants. I rest my eyes on Terry's butt, "There's some leftover pizza in there."

"I ate it. Where's mom?" Terry continues to look for food.

"Across town. Some kind of friend emergency, she left a number. She should be back Sunday afternoon," no need to go into the details, Terry is barely listening to me anyway, and the more I talk the more likely I will blurt out something about butts.

"Are you staying the whole weekend? You can sleep in my bed if you want."

"Will I be alone?" That sounded more inviting that I wanted it to be.

"Well, it is my bed Max," Terry slowly turns to face me.

My eyes were glued to his butt, until he turned around. Now I was now staring at his – wow that's - look up max, look up.

"Earth to Max. Max?" Terry snaps his fingers in front of my eyes.

Well, atleast he doesn't know what I was thinking, I look up into his eyes. "What happened to your neck?"

"Huh?" Terry rubs his neck with his right hand, "I ran into a -umm"

"Dana's mouth?"

"I wasn't with Dana. I need to call her, though."

"It's after 2:00am."

"Yea, you should get some sleep."

"Are you going to tell me what happened to your neck?"

"Sure, after I wake up," Terry walks pass me and settles into the couch.

Guess I'll be sleeping alone, "Goodnight, Terry."

AU note: So, I have decided to speed things up a bit after this chapter. Expect some lemon-aide next chapter (my first attempt), so skip it if you aren't into that sort of thing (don't worry, you won't miss a thing). Chapter 4 – Max will finally find out Terry is Batman, and they might graduate High school.


	3. small Dana lemonade

Chapter 3 -- Dana and Terry get close

I feel a little guilty. This chapter is a Terry/Dana lemon…well not really a full blown lemon, but it was taking too long to write it and I don't want to take two months writing a Terry/Dana lemon. Please R&R. I need help with lemon writing. :( Batman Beyond and related characters are owned by DC comics (yay!).

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Monday morning. Hamilton High courtyard. 

Dana Tan had arrived at school early to attend a meeting for the prom planning committee. Part of her hated having to drag herself out of bed, just to sit in a room with people who had no idea what "fashionable" was. Originally, her fashionable friends, Blade and Chelsea, had joined the committee, but after realizing how much time planning the prom took away from them planning their prom appearance they dropped out. Dana however managed to stay strong, refusing to let her senior prom look as tacky as her mothers.

There are three weeks until the big night, and I have managed to get everything I want – the theme – a walk in the clouds, the band – Restart is a cover band of my favorite band and will be playing all my favorite songs. This prom could be perfect – if my wonderful, disappearing boyfriend actually showed up. I actually had to pick up his suit, during a cancelled date of course. It's a white three piece suit with pink lining along the collar, a bit tacky but its all the rage at the moment. It will compliment my pink strapless dress perfectly. I know Terry will freak at seeing the pink, but unless he learns how not to stand his beautiful girlfriend up than he would have to deal with it.

The meeting lets out and I shuffle my way to homeroom. I see Terry hunched over his desk, probably napping. I move to the empty desk next to him and gently poke his arm.

"Hey, sleepy. Long night at Wayne's again?"

"No, actually. Max spent the weekend, had to sleep on the couch. This desk is more comfortable."

I blink and remind myself to not get angry. "Max spent the weekend?"

"Yea, mom was away with a friend. I asked her to stay and help out with Matt."

"Oh…your mom wasn't home," I know Max is Terry best friend, but she is a girl.

"No."

The bell sounds for first period.

Saved by the bell again McGinnis, "We need to talk after school."

"Oh?" He looks at me confused and half asleep.

"I have to go," I run out of the room and to my first class.

Getting through the day with the image of Max and Terry spending the weekend together was rough. I know the two of them had been friends long before I even knew Terry existed. I know they see each other as brother and sister. But it is hard to always watch them be so close to one another – it is a closeness I long for with Terry. I know Terry would never cheat on me…don't I?

"Dana. Look I know you are probably upset about this weekend, but it was Max," Terry catches up to me as students rush out of school.

"Terry, just hold my hand and walk with me."

They walk in silence away from the school. They eventually end up inside of Dana's house and sitting on the couch.

"Terry, I'm worried about our relationship. It's not just that we don't get to spend time together, but that you don't let me in."

"Dana-"

Before he finishes, Dana straddles Terry's lap and gently kisses him on the lips.

"Let me in Terry." She kisses him again. A deep sweet kiss filled with love and innocent desperation. He returns her kisses, thinking of how soft she feels against him, how perfect her body feels on his, how he dreamed about this moment so many times, but it's wrong. This wouldn't be his first time – a perk of being a former juvenile delinquent- but Dana was so innocent, he didn't want to corrupt her.

He pushes her away reluctantly, "Dana, maybe we should-"

"I don't want to wait. Not anymore. Don't worry, this isn't my first time" she leans in to kiss him again.

Dana is a beautiful girl, he should have expected that she had been with at least one other guy, but it surprises him. His surprise fades away with her kisses. She runs her hands down his chest and pulls his shirt off, dropping it on the floor – she always hated that shirt anyway. She feels the heat pour from his toned chest. It warms her and increases her desire for him. The sensation of her silky dress against his skin is a tease. He reaches for dress straps and slides them slowly off her shoulders. He begins to kiss a trail from her mouth, past her neck, and into her perk breasts. He kisses her right breast gently and fondles the left with his hand. She arches her back, trying to force more of her breast into his mouth, but he resists her, wanting to make this moment as special and long as possible.

He raises her and lays her gently on the couch. He slips her dress and panties down over her legs. He smiles down at his beautiful girlfriend and kissing her again begins to undo his pants.

Both nude, they fold into each other. Licking and touching each other in places unexplored for too long.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 -- Max finishes her search, and Terry eavesdrops.

Ok ok, I'm behind schedule. Max won't find out about Terry until next chapter. Batman Beyond and related characters are owned by DC comics (yay!).

* * *

Hamilton Hill's senior prom is tonight. Terry and Dana are shoe-ins for King and Queen. Not that Terry would be interested in being King, or even going to the prom, but it is a dream of Dana's. And Terry really would do anything to make her happy, that includes wearing a white suit with pink trim.

"You look like a snowman" Matt teases Terry as he walks into the living room.

"Shut up twerp," Terry advances towards his little brother.

"Yea, Matt, leave Frosty alone" I say from the couch.

A pillow sails across the room toward me.

"Hey, leave Max, alone! She didn't make you wear a stupid suit!" Matt comes to my rescue.

"It's not stupid, Matt. He looks rather handsome." Ms. McGinnis returns home from work just in time to see her eldest off to the prom. "I just wish Max was wearing something just as-"

"I think Max would explode if she ever wore anything-" a pillow catches Terry in the mouth before he can finish "What was that for?" Terry looks at me.

I shrug, "I didn't do it"

"Stop talking about Max!" Matt yells out.

"Matt, what did I say about throwing things?" Mc McGinnis says with arms on her hips.

"He started it!" Matt tries to rescue himself.

"And I'm finishing it," Ms McGinnis throws Matt a "shut up or else" look.

Matt flops on to the couch defeated. I can't help but smile at how cute he is trying to protect me from Terry.

"Let me take a picture," Ms McGinnis runs into the kitchen to get her camera.

"Mom, please-"

"Come on, Frosty. It's just a picture," I egg him on.

He moves besides me and places an arm around my back and on my shoulder. He turns to face his mom and with a smile of victory, "okay mom, snap away!"

Ms. McGinnis manages to get three shots before I realize what is going on.

"Max, at least try to look happy," She says as she prepares to snap again.

I look around the room for a way out, and I see Matt on the couch, arms crossed and making angry faces at Terry, and I smile.

Ms McGinnis gets her pictures.

Terry rushes out to pick up Dana and start his night. Soon after, Ms McGinnis leaves for her own date. It is just me and Matt for the rest of the night. To me, that's better than any prom.

After putting Matt to bed, I pull out my laptop and begin my search for Batman again. I hadn't been able to do much with it lately – just in put some more character traits and expand the database to include men living in the surrounding suburbs. Tonight, however I planned on finishing this. Thirty minutes later, and I had narrowed down my list of possibles to ten men. One of which was Terry, "there's no way Terry could be Batman," I laugh to myself. Now I'm down to nine. A little more tinkering and there's only one man – Justin Greene.

Greene is a former police officer who served on the Bludhaven PD for five years, before becoming obsessed with the splicing craze. Initally, he was concerned with getting spliced criminals off the streets. Soon he began to splice himself, mostly temporary visual and strength enhancements. He retired at the young age of 26 after brutally beating a murder suspect – the force didn't have enough evidence to hold the suspect, so Greene decided to take justice into his own hands. He had moved to Gotham quickly after that, but was unable to find a job on the police force, for obvious reasons. He must be the new batman. He has the physical skill, thanks to splicing, and the experience to handle the job. Max you are a genius.

After some thought, I decide to e-mail Justin Greene. I need to be 100 sure he is Batman. I'll send him a test e-mail, and only give him my e-mail address as a contact. If he isn't Batman then he won't be able to track me down. If he is Batman, then I just solved one of times greatest mysteries.

Terry returns home at 1:00am, wearing his signature leather jacket and jeans.

"You're early. What happened to the hotel?" I ask as he enters the room.

"Wayne called me away last minute. Dana told you?" He sounds surprised and annoyed.

"Yea, why shouldn't I know? Dana must be pissed."

"She is, but winning King and Queen made it a little easier to swallow," he slings his jacket over the back of the couch.

"My best friend is King Frosty now?"

"Was it really that bad?" He slides down onto the couch next to me, barely turning his face to ask me.

"It bought out your eyes...did Dana punch you?"

"What? No," he closes his eyes, half asleep now.

"Did Wayne?"

"The old man? Of course not, what's wrong with you Max," he reopens his eyes, there is an air of anger around him. His temper must be at an all time low tonight, he won't put up with my questions too much longer, but I'm worried about him.

"Your right eye is a little dark. Come to think of it, you have been getting a lot of bruises lately."

He thought to himself that even though he had been having sex with Dana for about a month, she never mentioned any bruises, but Max always did. "I got bruises a lot when I was on the wrestling team, you never said anything then."

"Well, I knew what you were doing then. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Does it matter?" He's tired of talking, if he had the energy, he would walk away, but he's too tired to move.

"I don't know. When you go to sleep at night are you still Terry? Because if you're someone else, then it matters a lot."

His eyes softened on me, "As long as the people I care about are safe, it doesn't matter who I am when I go to sleep."

Getting a full blast of those blue eyes, so soft and sincere was murder. "Terry, I'm just-"

"Forget it, Max, are you ready to go home?"

Weakly I answer, "yes." I decide to leave my laptop, packing it up would just give Terry time to fall asleep. Besides, it's not like I can't pick it up tomorrow.

The Monday following the prom, I skip school. Not that I'm too tired to get out of bed, I just don't feel like hearing anymore congratulations about winning prom king. So I made up some lie about being sick and stayed in bed. It is a welcome rest. The past few weeks had me hectic. First, I run into Dr. Cuvier's pet project Chimeras who has been trying to kill me at least twice a week. Even though the guy told me he was connected to Dr. Cuvier, Bruce and I have not been able to track him down yet. So I've just been hanging in there, getting beat up twice a week. That was a bad thing – good thing, Dana seems to have adjusted to my mysterious night life and decided we should take our relationship a step further. It was amazing…everything about her is perfect. Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am. It's been five days since we were last together. Prom night was supposed to be a big night for us, a hotel room with a fancy jacuzzi, but I was called away to be beaten by Chimeras. It left me tense and craving for a release. Then there was Max, she had been acting strange. I catch her staring at my butt and chest somedays. I would like to think she was just admiring me, but she always points out some new bruise. I have managed to avoid going into details about the bruises up to date, let's hope it stays that way.

Its noon, I roll out of bed and head for the shower. After cleaning up I go to the kitchen for some food. As I pass by the living room I hear a small ding. "Right, Max left her computer Friday. I was supposed to bring it to school today. Guess I'll drop it off after she gets home, but while it's here." I fall into the couch and start to wonder through Max's laptop. Her e-mail client is open, and she has just received a new e-mail from a Justin Greene, with the subject: re: meet me tonight. "Hmm…Max has a secret boyfriend? Tsk, tsk, you know I have to screen all your boyfriends."

Quickly reading through the message replies, I see that the two lover birds will meet tonight at the pond in Gotham Park to discuss Justin's work. A little too romantic for a business date, but it was a little to business for a romantic date. "Who is this Justin Greene?" I search Max's computer, for any listing of Justin Greene. There was one finding inside a folder named possibles. I try to open it, and get a password prompt. "Password protection? Max what are you doing?"

I type in the word "9ink3v3" it has been Max's password for things since she was 12, you think a girl with pink hair would change that. The folder opens. Inside is a document titled "JG," I open it. It's a bio on Justin Greene, the man Max believes to be Batman. "Slag, it Max, I told you stop."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 -- Max finds out. Terry gets hurt.Thanks for all the support and reviews :) I kindof forced this one out today, so I hope you like it. Batman Beyond and related characters are owned by DC comics (yay!).

* * *

"Max! Open the door, Max! Come on its Terry, we need to talk," I bang on Max's door. No answer. I continue to yell and bang on the door for five minutes, there's no answer. I had been trying to contact her for most of the afternoon. Matt had broken her cell phone over the weekend, so that was out. The e-mails I sent her were bounced back unread. I tried to catch up with her after school, but Dana told me she had just left. According to her e-mails with Justin Greene, she isn't supposed to be in the park until 11. That's about four hours from now. Today's Monday so I know she doesn't have judo practice. She's gotta come home before going to the park, I'll just wait.

One hour later. No Max. My phone rings, it's the old man. Right, I'm late for patrol. Maybe I can get the night off if I explain the situation.

"Bruce, I need -"

"Cave, now." The phone goes dead.

Well, there goes my chance of getting the night off. New plan. I'll go on patrol and circle the park at 11 to check on Max.

Bat Cave

"Its time we made a real advance against Chimeras," Bruce talks to me, but never lifts his head from the computer.

"Good, I'm getting tired of being a punching bag. Did you find his hideout?"

"No, but I think he's in Gotham to do more than just defeat you."

The monitor changes to show the pictures of ten strangers, their vital statistics to the right.

"There's been a series of kidnappings over the past three months."

"I didn't hear anything about kidnappings."

"That's because eight of them happened in Bludhaven and no one knows about the last two. They were reported as missing last week; the police still have them listed as runaways."

"And you think Chimeras has something to do with this because…"

"Think back to your fight with Cuvier. You defeated him only because he was unable to control the conflicting DNA. It made him sick and caused his death," Bruce tries to teach me a lesson while insulting.

"Chimeras seems just fine, though. He must have found some way to control the DNA. I still don't know why you think Chimeras kidnapped these particular people. Are there any common links?"

"Just one," He presses a few buttons and the screen changes, "look familiar?"

"Is that fur?"

"Police reports say the sample shares the DNA of a tiger and human. This is the sample from one of the Bludhaven kidnapping, there were a few strands found in the apartments of the two Gotham victims," Bruce lays out the case for me.

"You make it look so easy."

"There's no telling exactly how long Chimeras will keep those people, or what he will do with them when he's done. The cat and bat game is over."

11pm, air over Gotham Park

There was no sign of Chimeras tonight. Good news for my face, bad news for the people he's kidnapped. I need to find this guy quick, but a short trip to the park won't delay me too much. I cloaked the jet and left it hovering just about the park. I cloak myself and walk towards the bridge, Max's rendezvous point. The park is quiet, not too many Jokerz out. Looks like Max picked a good day to do something stupid. I near the bridge and see Max sitting on the railing of the bridge. She's still alone. Good, maybe her date will stand her up. I crouch behind a tree and watch over my friend.

She wraps her arms around herself and begins to shake. It is a chilly night, but she only wears her sleeveless tank top and black pants. The shirt looks so ugly on her. If she only dressed more like some of the other girls in school, then she'd probably be too busy dating to be here tonight. I wonder if we would be friends if she dressed different. If she was dating, then would she give me - movement near the bridge cancels his thoughts.

Max turns her head in the direction of the noise, "Who's there?"

"The man you searched so hard to find," the figure steps from the shadows, "I'm so happy to find people willing to join my cause."

Max's mouth opens in surprise. She couldn't describe the monster standing before her. Is it a bear, a tiger, a man?

"My appearance surprises you? Well, I suppose you were expecting to meet the old Justin, the sexy rookie cop? You really have no idea what I have become, do you?"

Max takes a slow backwards step. Could she out run this thing?

"I am the perfection that Nature could never achieve. The combination of the world's most beautiful creatures, but please call me Chimeras. Now come, there is much for me to show you."

"I'm not coming with you," Max answers, preparing to run away.

Chimeras smiles at her, "But Max, you asked for me." He lunges for her, intending to grab her neck and drag her off.

A dark figure crashes into Chimeras and knocks him into the creek below the bridge. "Max run!"

Max had ended up on the ground when Batman rushed in to attack Chimeras, but she was more upset about being wrong about Batman's identity than any present danger.

Chimeras stands up in the creek, "I thought I smelled a bat."

Batman turns his attention back to Chimeras, "Then you should have run away."

"Why? Bats are such inferior creatures," he leaps out of the creek and forces Batman into the opposite railing of the bridge.

"Killing my mentor, trying to steal away my followers… you must really want to die," Chimeras yells in anger. He grabs Batman's head and flings him into the floor of the bridge. "What's stronger, I wonder? Claws or cloth?"

Chimeras begins to slash away at Batman's chest. The suit's Kevlar makeup protected Batman from the initial slices, but soon Chimeras' claws broke through.

"McGinnis, don't just lay there get up!" Bruce yells in the communication system. He had left his post to get some coffee and visit the bathroom. At his age, both took longer than he wanted. "Your legs, McGinnis. Use your legs!" Batman gave no response. The computer monitor begins to flash red, McGinnis was unconscious and Chimeras was having a field day clawing at his chest. There was a lot of blood, Bruce had installed an electric pulse in the suit, it was supposed work like a defibrillator, but with the current damages to the suit it might emit a strong enough pulse to hurt Chimeras. He activates the pulse from the control panel.

Chimeras feels a small shock in his legs "is that all you have left? Tickle attacks?" Suddenly the sensation gets stronger and forces Chimeras to flee. "What a shame, I expected more than just an electric shock on your deathbed. Doesn't matter. So long, Batman." Chimeras spreads an amazing pair of hawk like wings and flies away into the night sky.

Max wanted to help. After Justin had reemerged from the creek, she had run off looking for something to use as a weapon. All she could find was an empty alcohol bottle. She runs back towards the bridge, only to see Batman unconscious and bleeding heavily.

"Oh my god," she runs towards him. "Batman, I'm sorry. I can help," Max knew a little first aid, none of that would help in a situation like this, but she had to try. First thing, stop the bleeding. She pulls off her shirt and presses it into Batman's chest. The blood quickly soaks into the shirt.

"M-max," Batman calls out to her in a weak voice, "Max, go home," even half dead, he was still trying to protect her.

"No, you're hurt bad, I'm not leaving you," she continues to press her shirt into his chest. She thinks she feels a broken rib, but she isn't sure. She has no idea what to do next.

"Fine, then I need your help," Batman grunts out in anger.

The wind begins to slowly gust around the two, Max turns her head to see the bat jet de-cloak and land just feet away from them.

"Just get me in, it can do the rest," Batman answers the question Max had in her head.

"Right," she gathers him in her arms as gently as she can. She slowly stands with him, bracing his body against her own. She half walks half drags Batman to the bat jet. Max stops as she reaches the jet.

Batman can feel the blood rush out of him, despite Max's effort. How nice of her to give him her shirt. The awkward way Max is supporting him, he had a direct view of her chest. The chilly air had made her nipples harden, and they tugged so gently against the lace of her black bra. He thinks to himself that if he dies tonight, this might not be a bad way to go.

Max interrupts his thoughts, "Where are the stairs?"

"Hold tighter," Batman voice is just a whisper now. Suddenly the two are jettisoned into the air, and dropped into the cockpit of the bat jet. Batman is knocked out by the pain of flying into the bat jet.

"Batman, wake up. I don't know how to fly-"

"Relax, Maxine. Just keep pressure on the wound," a mysterious voice surrounds her in the cockpit. Several lights ignite and the jet takes off for places unknown.

The jet ride gave Max time to think about what just happened. Justin isn't Batman, but what the hell is he? What did he plan on doing to her? And who was Batman? He had called her by her name twice. Had he been tracking Justin and overheard their conversation or did she know him? But she hadn't told anyone where she was going tonight, so it's impossible that anyone she knew could know -- unless someone had read her e-mails.

The jet jerks to a stop and the cockpit door opens.

"Put him on the stretcher," the mysterious voice commands her. A hover-stretcher glides over to Max. She struggles to get Batman out of the cockpit and onto it, but finally she succeeds. The stretcher begins to hover away, "Get down here. I'll need your help."

Max watches as the stranger walks away from her, his voice sounds familiar, but she can't be sure who he was until she sees his face. She jumps down from the cockpit and rushes to the area the man disappeared into.

The man had already removed the upper half of Batman's suit, and was working to patch up the wounds. Max can't stop from looking at Batman's face, "Terry?"

"Yes, Terry's Batman and I'm Bruce Wayne. Now if you want him to make it through the night, use your mouth less and your hands more."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 -- The day after  
Dear loyal readers: Thanks for all the comments. I never meant to leave the story hanging like this…but I've been pretty swamped and will be for a few more weeks. Just stay tuned please!  
Batman Beyond and related characters are owned by DC comics (yay!).

* * *

Bruce stood over the lavish bed that Terry McGinnis lay unconscious in. Terry's injuries weren't that bad, Bruce had suffered many more fatal injuries in his day under the cowl. But the physical damage wasn't the problem—your first major beating is crushing blow to the ego. It's also a wake up call. People don't like you, and will go to out of their way to prove they don't like you. Terry needed that, his run as Batman had been too lucky, too easy. He never felt any real pain. He needed to learn to take this and bounce back. 

He turns and exits the room. Max is sitting by the threshold, staring out into nothing. He would need to lecture her on her research project, but not now.

"You need to clean up. There's a shower down the hall."

She continues to star out to nothing, but asks, "How can you do it? Just walk around like he's not dying."

He turns to begin his journey down into his world, "McGinnis is too stubborn for that."

She looks up at his back "All this time I thought he was just sneaking off with Dana. I never would have done this if-"

He was never good at comforting people, "Take a shower. I'll sit clothes outside for you." He begins to walk away, "Meet me in the cave when you're down."

As he disappears around a corner, a confused voice follows, "You have women's clothing?"

Showers are usually a fun event for women. The warm caresses of the water crawling over bare skin like a mysterious and skilled lover. For the past few weeks, I imagined that Terry was that shower lover. This shower is different. The water attacks my body, tearing Terry's blood away. I watch the blood disappear down the white tub, possibly the last remnants of our friendship. He should have told me that he was Batman. Things would have been different, I could have helped. I - I could have gotten him killed.

"Is that why you didn't tell me? Didn't you trust me?" I slip down into the shower on my knees, talking to the blood as it ran away from me. "Terry, I'm sorry. Please don't leave me."

There is a knock on the door. I look up and wait for another sound, but there is nothing. I turn off the shower and grab a towel. Covering myself, I peek out the door. A pile of clothes lay neatly on the floor: an old grey Gotham University Women's Track team sweatshirt with a matching pair of faded grey sweats, and a pair of men's bath slippers. Surprisingly, the clothes fit perfectly. The slippers were two times too big, obviously. "Now what do you do with yourself?"

Bat cave

"Get lost?" was the only greeting I got as she enters. I hadn't got lost, but stopped to look over Terry. He looked so peaceful in that bed, like he it was the first time he had ever slept. Still, it's my fault he's like this. And while those extra credit classes I took anatomy and first aide were useful last night, it had been Bruce who saved him.

"What you did last night was reckless and foolish. Did you really think Batman would just say hello and welcome you into the fold," Bruce interrupts my thoughts with lectures.

What did I expect last night? I wasn't sure it just, "Well, everything just happened so"

"Everything is different now. I called the school and Terry's mother this morning, you and Terry are spending the week in Metropolis with me on business. Terry as my PA. You as the winner of a contest to tour the Star Labs facilities – congratulations."

Why is he telling me this? Why hasn't he kicked me out? "Obviously, you aren't moving Terry like he is. But why did you get me the week off?"

"Your first aide is good enough to monitor Terry and change is dressings if needed. I'll check on him once or twice a day. You will also be trained on the bat computer, vehicle and suit maintenance, and basic combat skills."

"What?"

"You wanted in, you're in. As a non-combatant sidekick. What ever you are thinking now, keep it to yourself. I don't like you and I don't want you here, but you will be useful in supporting Batman's efforts in Gotham." That wasn't exactly true. Bruce did like Max. Sure she had been stupid last night, but she was smart enough to solve a puzzle he couldn't and while he was not looking forward to training another teenager, finding someone who could play the role of bat-confidant, researcher, and nurse was worth the hassle.

I'm speechless. The excitement of being Batman's sidekick is well exciting, but this is happening because Terry is hurt, and Terry's hurt because of me. I can't be happy. I can't be sad. But I have to do this. If I do I can help Terry…possibly make up for what I did. "Let's begin."

Gotham Park

"You actually took out Batman?" A Joker asks.

"It was a rather disappointing victory," Chimeras has to admit.

"But it was Batman! He's impossible to-"

"He's alive. Hiding in some hole licking his wounds. Waiting to attack," he stands on the very bridge Batman eluded him on. Where did he run to with that girl?

"Chi, I think you are over thinking it. Bats is dead. I mean look at you! How could he defeat you?"

"He defeated the great doctor. I can't rest until I hold his lifeless body in my claws. He'll ruin all my plans."

"Aww, hehe, yea the search for the perfect DNA, huh?"

"I'm not searching for the perfect DNA fool, I'm creating it."

"Creating, searching, whatever. If you want to keep using Jokerz, then you gonna need more creds."

"Paying criminals to commit crimes," he flings a bag to the Joker's feet, "seems against nature."

"Look, who's talking," the Joker snickers as he picks up the bag.

Chimeras rushes to him and grabbing him by the throat lifts him off the ground, "Don't mistake my business for affection. Under normal circumstances, I would have long disposed of you and your idiotic band of brats. So I would advise you to stay on my good side or our next transaction might include a bag full of your bones instead of creds." He releases the Joker to the ground. "Now, find the Batman!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Awaking from a dream  
Terry is briefed of the situation. Please forgive my medical errors, I am not a doctor or a nurse or pre-med. Please R&RBatman Beyond and related characters are owned by DC comics (yay!).

* * *

I feel the sun on my closed eye lids. Its warm, but I'm so tired. I just want to sleep a little more.

"Terry? Terry, wake up!"

Dana?

"ewww, I'm not a girl!"

Matt?

"Yea, get up! You promised to go out with me."

Matt, I'm tired just let me sleep a little more…

"Matt! Terry, I can't believe you just called me Matt."

Dana?

"Duh, don't remember your own girlfriend's voice? If we spent more time together-"

Dana, I'm sorry. I'm just so tired. Why are you in my bedroom?

"You missed graduation. And are you even listening to me?" I feel her sit next to him on the bed. She places a hand on my stomach. It hurts. I open my eyes and grab her hand.

Dana what are you? "Max?"

She says nothing, just looks down at me, smiling, and then falling onto me. It hurts. It hurts a lot, but Max doesn't act like this everyday so it must be important. I'll let her continue for a bit. Why is she acting like this? Why is she in my room?

Looking around, I slowly realize this isn't my room. The ceiling's too high, the windows too tall, and well it's clean. Being Batman at night never gives me times to clean up. Though, I never really cleaned before being Batman, either. These sheets feel expensive too, must be at Bruce's. But why is Max here? Maybe this is a dream. Yea, probably asleep. That's why Max is acting so weird. She'll probably jump and start undressing and forcing herself on me soon. Terry's wet dream #10. Haven't had that one in a while, at least not since Dana and me started having sex. This should be interesting, okay Max get up and start stripping. Damn, this is really hurting, why is this hurting so much?

"I'm sorry. I just wasn't sure if you would even get up," she jumps away from me.

I feel myself give her a perplexed look; of course I would get up. Why wouldn't I? Staring into her face, I notice her right eye looks dark –is that a black eye? Who could have – Chimeras! He must have attacked her after I passed out. But I thought we were in the bat jet. I thought I had protected her.

She lifts a hand to her face, "What? I haven't been getting much sleep because of you."

"Who hit you?"

"No one."

"You have a black eye."

"I haven't been sleeping I said. This is what happens when I don't get me beauty sleep," gesturing to her face.

So she's not going to tell me easily. I try to sit up and force her to talk. Pain pulsing from my chest and stomach stops me.

She rushes to push me down, "You shouldn't get up, yet. You're not completely healed. Luckily, they are just bruised."

I lay down again, "You never needed beauty sleep before. Why are you lying?"

She gets that look on her face. A blank look she gets right before lying. I hate when she gives me that look. I hate her hiding stuff from me. "I don't know why you're lying, but if Chimeras hit or hurt you in anyway, then I need to know."

"It wasn't Chimeras. Happy."

Finally the truth, "Then who?"

"You have been unconscious for two weeks and this is the first thing you want to talk about?"

Her news surprises me, "I was what? No, stop trying to change the subject," but I won't let her keep this from me.

"I'm not trying to change the subject. There are more important things right now than one black eye."

"What? That you know I'm Batman? As far as I can tell, your knowing that caused you to get a black-eye. Now I can fix that black-eye by causing someone else unthinkable amounts of pain. Afterwards, we can talk about Batman, me being knocked out for two weeks, and you putting yourself in danger. Heck, we can even talk about chocolate-covered vidchips if you want. But I can't do any of that until I hurt someone very badly. Now who am I going to hurt Max?"

"You have three bruised ribs. You can barely sit up-"

I move to sit up again, she tries to push me down, but I resist her. I need to prove a point, to her and to me, I can do this – I can protect her. "See? I'm up, now who hit you?"

"I did," an old and angry voice comes from beyond Max.

Bruce enters the room and stands at the foot of the bed, "When did he wake up?"

"A few minutes ago, been trying to get out of bed, but," Max answers him.

"Then let him up," Bruce orders her.

"Why the hell did you hit Max?

"You were out for two weeks. I was bored. Problem?"

"You son of a," I somehow manage to propel myself up and out of the bed, but as I near him, my body gives in to pain. Even in his old age, he just slide steps me, as I fall helpless to the floor.

Max kneels next to me, and helps me sit up on the floor.

"If you can stand up for more than three seconds, then meet me in the cave," he turns to leave.

Trying to catch my breath, I ask, "Why?"

"Sidekicks need to learn to fight. Good fighters either know how to take a hit or dodge. She didn't dodge," He leaves.

I turn to look at her, "Sidekick?"

A large grin spanning her face, "Yea…I was going to tell you. I'm your new sidekick, but I don't do any fighting."

"So, he's training you just in case something happens. I planned on doing that someday, just hoped I wouldn't have to."

"Well now you don't," her voice becomes quiet, "Terry about Chimeras-"

"It was stupid and you should never do anything like that again. I mean, if you are really that desperate for a date, I'm sure Nelson would love to go out with you?"

"You're lucky I missed you making fun of me," she laughs.

I grin back at her. I don't think she realizes what she has gotten herself into, but there's only one way to find out. "Help me to the cave, its time to work."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 9 – Home again

Terry finally goes home. Sorry for the long wait, I have been going crazy at school so this may read a bit weird. Next chapter will be more relationship stuff and a bit of action...and I promise I'll get it posted before next week :)

Batman Beyond and related characters are owned by DC comics (yay!)

* * *

"So, how does it feel?" she asks, optimistically.

"Cold, and a little stiff," I answer half-lying. The suit is more than stiff, it is a bit heavier than the original. None of that really bothers me. I'm an active young man, I can adjust to stiff and heavy. The problem is there's something sharp poking into my cup. I'm sure if I paid more attention in school I would be able to figure out exactly what Max did wrong to cause this problem, but as things are I have no idea what's poking me.

"You won't feel the cold when you get moving. And the suit's not stiff, you are," Max never believes she could be wrong.

"Believe me, I'm definitely not getting stiff in this suit," I move back behind a curtain to change into my old, comfy street clothes – I don't think jeans every felt this good.

"Fine, its stiff, just get used to it and you'll be fine. The enhancements I made to the suit should give you a little more resistance against cat scratches," Max calls from the other side of the curtain.

"His best resistance would be to stay out of the cat's way," Bruce calls from his perch at the bat computer, "if the suit is uncomfortable then he won't be a good fighter. You need to take into consideration Terry's comfort when designing and modifying the suit."

Defeatedly, Max stares at the back of Bruce's head her arms crossed over her chest. It had been two days since my return to the world. I hadn't even been home yet. It's been non-stop training and briefing. Chimeras had not been resting while I was asleep. It had become clear to Bruce that Chimeras and the Jokerz were in league together. He wasn't sure what the Jokerz motives were, other than being able to eliminate Batman. But whatever the reason, they had been hitting low and medium security businesses randomly throughout Gotham. Not too odd for Jokerz, but they never took anything. Just attacked. Bruce thought they were trying to draw the batman out of his hiding. Max had a slightly different idea of what was going on. She thought Chimeras was looking for someone, but not batman. Since he believed Batman was dead, he just let the jokerz go unchecked in their search. And the Jokerz didn't have any motivation other than getting cred and causing trouble. Whomever was right, I needed to get back to patrolling and stop Chimeras before things got worse. That's after I went home.

I step from behind the curtain and throw the modified suit at Max. It hits her in the back of the head. She turns to yell at me, but Bruce interrupts, "If you want him to wear the suit, make it worth wearing."

"Fine, I'll break it down and use some lighter fibers, maybe less …," Max talks to the suit as she lays it down over a work desk. She picks up some chips off the table and drops them in her bag, probably blueprints of the suit. Slinging the bag on her shoulder, she walks over to me, "…energy usage." She stops, "ready?"

"Ready?"

"Yea, its time to go home, get yelled at by your mom and Dana, probably get punched by Matt. I can't keep up the "Terry is out with Wayne and unreachable by phone lie" much longer," Max says, "Besides, graduation is next week, if we don't show up now, there's no way we'll be allowed in the ceremony," Max's final reminder, she grasps my hand and leads me out of the cave.

I dropped Max off first, I tried to get her to come home with me, but she was anxious to continue working on suit modifications. Lucky girl, she was able to just disappear for two weeks, and then slip back into her old life like nothing happened. Not me. I had to remember who to tell what lie to, and get yelled at anyway. First up, mom and the twirp. Max had told me about the one week trip to Metropolis Wayne had made up. After the week was up and I was still unconscious, Wayne made up a sudden, but urgent trip to Central City. Max was primarily the go between mom and Dana, making up lies about me being out with Wayne all hours of the day and saying that I had left my cellphone in my rush to leave Gotham. Dana, to my surprise, had taken it well saying, disappearing was just something I did. Mom, however was pissed. Two weeks with no contact from her eldest boy was driving her crazy, luckily she trusts Max enough to not go searching for me.

So I was geared to face a major lecture from mom, but as I enter the house I notice all the lights are out. There is a note taped to the TV: "Terry, I had to go to a conference in Bludhaven, Matt is staying with Angie. Call as soon as you get this. – Mom" Bludhaven is perhaps the worst city to have a conference, but I'm sure mom will be careful. Besides, Bludhaven has its own masked heroes. Angie is the mom of one of Matt's friends at school. I'm sure the twirp is having more fun there, then he would if I brought him home. I'll leave him there for a while longer and call mom.

She answers abruptly, "Terence McGinnis, how dare you run all over the country and not call even once to let me know you were okay."

Well, hello to you too mom, "I'm sorry things just got out of hand. Mr. Wayne had to leave so suddenly, I couldn't call. And every time I tried to call, he threw more work at me," please don't ask for details.

"You have to make time, Terry. How would you feel if I suddenly disappeared and didn't call you for two weeks? And you didn't just leave me, Matt was worried sick."

"Mom, I'm sorry –"

"Sorry's not enough Terry. This job is great, but it is no replacement for your family. Wayne has to understand that."

"He does -"

"No he doesn't. And when I get back to Gotham the three of us need to sit down and reevaluate this job. For now, just go pick up Matt, and don't leave home."

She hung up the phone. My mom hung up on me, great.

"Terry," Matt runs into me and hugs me, wow he really did miss me.

"Hey twirp, ready to go home?"

"Is mom home," he asks, still hugging me.

"Not yet."

He pulls away from me, "Can I stay here until mom gets home?"

I look up at Angie, who nods an okay to me, "Yea, Matt. Sure you don't want to come home?"

"I will. When mom comes back." He hugs me again and walks away from me.

Angie leans in, "He is a little upset about you going off on adventures in Metropolis and Central City, without him. He was mopping around like a sidekick without a hero. Mary will be back in three days, I'm sure he will forgive you by then."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 89– yea, about that… 

I swear, every time I write an outline to end this fic the darn storyline just keeps going. I really wanted to end this thing under 10 chapters, that's definitely not going to happen now. Okay. Enough ranting. To all who missed her, this will be the glorious return of Dana. As always, most of these wonderful characters are owned by DC comics.

* * *

"Matt didn't want to come home," I'm still confused about why my little brother didn't want to come home with me. I mean, I was gone for two weeks, I thought he would be happy to spend time with me again. 

"Ouch, he must be really pissed. What did Dana say?" I can hear Max typing something as she answers me, I doubt she's listening.

"Yea, I didn't call her yet," I admit to forgetting to smooth things over with Dana.

"Wait. You what?" I hear the typing stop.

"Well, I called mom when I got in, and then I went to get Matt. I was a little disturbed, you know," and I want to avoid being yelled at the moment.

"Terry, my bag of lies isn't going to save you if you don't call Dana. I mean, its running pretty empty, now. All I have left is the 'Terry's runaway to become a Tibetan monk' lie and no one's going to believe that."

"I know I have to call her. I just can't handle anymore – why can't I be a monk?"

"I didn't say you can't be. I just said it was unbelievable. And I'm sure Dana will be happy to hear from you, she'll yell at you two, three hours tops,"

"Not the comforting words I was hoping for,"

"Terry, you are the guy girls dream about, a bad boy with a great body who sensitive and caring. Any girl would be lucky to have you, and Dana realizes that. She only yells at you, out of fear that some other girl has noticed and is trying to steal you away."

That was unexpected, "hmm, so-"

"hahaha, sorry, sorry, I couldn't hold it anymore," Max continues to giggle.

"Thanks Max, glad you're here to cheer me up."

"You'll do fine; you and Dana always work things out. Call her; I want to finish up these new suit schematics before I go to bed."

"Hey it is kind of late, Dana's probably already in bed," I lie to try to postpone the call.

"Graduation is next week, I doubt she's sleeping," Max's final words on the subject.

"If I were your boyfriend, I would never not call you. A sexy girl like you should never have to worry about what her man is doing. Terry is probably up in Metropolis right now having sex with some snobby girl he met at one of those business dinners Wayne had to go to. He's not thinking about you are all, and he doesn't deserve you. The least you could do is treat yourself to a nice dinner with a real man," the voice finally finished his speech.

Ronald Marz, not so subtle, star linebacker for the high school football team has had a crush on Dana Tan for almost three years. And if Dana wasn't involved with Terry for those three years, she may have taken him up on his offer. Over the last few weeks, with Terry's absence, Dana found herself thinking a lot about what a relationship with Ronald would be like. And Ronald's offer was sounding better and better as each hour passed without any sign of Terry. Still, Dana was not ready to break up with Terry and even though he disappeared off the face of the Earth for a couple of weeks, she didn't believe he had broken up with or was cheating on her.

"Ron, you're a nice guy, but I'm with Terry-"

"Dana, Terry's not with you," He hangs up the phone.

Dana is a little taken aback by the comment. Of course Terry was with her. How dare he say something like that? He doesn't know Terry, how sweet he is. How much she missed him.

The phone rings, probably Ronald.

She answers in anger, "Who do you think you are?"

"Dana I'm sorry, I know I should have called you, but Wayne had me running around everywhere and I forgot my phone," Terry had planned his explanation out much more smoothly, but he hadn't expected Dana to react in this way. Ok, maybe he expected it a little, but he was hoping it didn't happen.

"Terry?" Dana responses in shock, she was anger at Terry, but she didn't want to yell at him like that.

"Yea, Dana, I'm sorry about-"

"Terry, I missed you. I don't feel like arguing. Can I come over?" Dana wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but she knew she missed being with Terry. The last two weeks were long and all she wanted was to be with him again.

"Um, sure. I'll come get you."


	10. Chapter 10

Ok, so we are going to ignore how long it took me to update this fic…I had a serious case of writer's block and "I hate the way this thing is shaping out to be." But I'm back now! This story should be wrapping up soon, mostly because I want to try something else and I really hate Chimeras. (does anyone like him? I mean really?) So hopefully, you will enjoy these two short chapters to get me back into the swing of things/let me poke fun at the characters. Things should be getting serious after this. Thanks to all the supporters and people who are actually still reading…

* * *

Chapter 10 - Romance ain't really your thing.

"This would be a lot easier if I knew exactly what was wrong," Max sighs to herself. She had been tinkering with ways to improve the Batsuit, ever since Bruce gave her the okay to join the team. It was the least she could do. Sure Bruce had several spares, but fixing this suit -- making it stronger than the others -- was important to Max. It was a way to show Terry that she would always have his back, whether he was behind the mask or not. But improving the suit had turned out to be harder than Max thought it would be.

There were obvious changes that needed to be made: the boot-jets needed to provide more lift, the camouflage needed to last longer as well as disguise Terry's heat signature, the armor needed to be stronger, and there needed to be a more effective way to heal wounds. Bruce shot down many of Max's original ideas without giving any reason, but Max was finally able to convince him to let her add medi-nanos to the suit.

The medi-nanos work with the suits pre-existing monitoring system. They are normally dormant, but when an area of the suit or Terry's body reaches a certain danger point the nanos respond by primarily re-enforcing the suits armor and secondly, if needed, treating Terry's wounds. It was exactly what the suit was missing -- probably because the medi-nanos required a large amount of power and occupied a large amount of space in the suit. To accommodate them Max had to add an additional layer and install charging docks across the suit. All that in a week's time. Was Max a genius? Yes. Was she determined? Of course. Was she trying to avoid another sparing match with Bruce? Slag yes. All the work, flushed down the drain when Terry said it was uncomfortable. So here Max sat, staring at the schematics for the original and her model suit to see where things wet wrong.

Suddenly, Max's screen is interrupted by an instant message from 'Jbond494,' her lab partner in genetics.

Jbond494: Hi

Max closes the window.

Jbond494: Max? u there?

Max closes the window.

Jbond494: Max? pls I need help

MAXSUPPORT: help with what Jeremy?

Jbond494: y didnt u answer me b4?

MAXSUPPORT: you need help don't you?

Jbond494: yea…can i borrow our notes from last week? i cant find mine.

MAXSUPPORT: I haven't been to school in two weeks.

Jbond494: oh. so you habe no idea what we did?

MAXSUPPORT: no I don't…I wasn't there.

Jbond494: oh, so do u want to meat up and study after school tommorow? We could stop by the arcade.

MAXSUPPORT: there's only a week left, I don't think any amount of studying will change our grades.

Jbond494: so do u just want to hit teh arcde?

MAXSUPPORT: what? why?

Jbond494: lets just meet up ther around 5:00? that's good, for u right?

MAXSUPPORT: what?

Jbond494: 5:00 PM. Maybe we could see a movie to

MAXSUPPORT: are you asking me out on a date? cause you are doing a horrible job.

Jbond494: i am?

MAXSUPPORT: yea

Jeremy goes silent for several minutes.

Jbond494: sorry, I just figured this would be my last chance. We'll both be leaving for college soon and I always liked you. But you were always with Terry...and he gives me the creeps. But I figured hey, what do I got to lose, you're online…I'm online…and only one week of school. Man up while I still can, I guess.

Going out with Jeremy is a bad idea…not that he is unattractive, he just isn't Max's type. Then again Max's type seems to be her best friend, who just happened to be in love with a girl who was everything Max wasn't. Maybe Max is was into the wrong type…and a few rounds at the arcade could clear her mind and help her re-evaluate the bat suit's upgrades.

Jbond494: was that better? I'm not good at telling people how I feel, especially people I like. To be honest, I stole part of what I said from a movie I had to see with my little sister…I could say how I really felt…but I don't want to labeled a pervert this close to graduation.

MAXSUPPORT: Haha

Jbond494: she laughs, she smiles, she agrees to go out with me?

MAXSUPPORT: she does

Jbond494: great. Then goodnight, until tomorrow.

Jeremy watches in amazement as Max agrees to go out with him. He never expected Max to actually say yes.

"So do I actually have to go out with her," Jeremy asks.

"After all the work I had to do to patch up that pitiful conversation you had with her," Chimeras swings away from the computer, "of course you have to go out with her, and you are going to enjoy it too."

Jeremy shuffles his feet on the floor, "but I don't even like her."

"I'm not paying you or any of your joker friends to like what I tell you to do," Chimeras walks to the boy and towers over him.

Jeremy backs away, "but, but why this girl…there's so many in the school."

"Because this girl knows a lot about me and has some sort of connection with Batman. I catch the girl, I catch the bat," Chimeras eyes the boy, then turns away. "And if he really is dead, I'll just have to find some other use for the girl -- before I kill her."

Batcave - 4:15pm

After a not so stressful return to school. Terry found himself going to the bat cave alone. Max had some spur of the moment date with some loser and would catch up later. Max could do much better and had in the past. They'd have to have a talk later about standards.

"Don't bother suiting up," Bruce turns from his perch at the bat-computer, dressed unusually well for a night of mentoring.

"Giving me the night off," I ask jokingly.

"Of course not," Bruce scoffs back at me, "Didn't she tell you?"

"Tell me what?" All Max told me today was that she was going on a date. I doubt Bruce would change my night schedule because of that.

Bruce passes by me on his way to the elevator leading to the rest of the manor. "I spoke with your mother this afternoon about your disappearance. I wasn't able to calm her down over the phone, so I invited her out to dinner."

I didn't know my mom had gotten back in town, but Bruce had managed to talk her into a dinner date? "You are going on a date with my mom!"

"I'm too old for dates, McGinnis," Bruce answers over his shoulder.

What was that supposed to mean? "What is that supposed to mean? You know she's half your age. And she has a boyfriend. And she's my mom."

Bruce pauses in front of the elevator, "I have to convince her that you working for me is still a good idea."

"And you're gonna convince her over some expensive candlelight dinner? Don't you think you're going a little to far with this? I mean look at you!? Do you have to wear such an expensive looking suit."

"Terry, I'm a billionaire. I don't have inexpensive suits. If this bothers you so much, then I can cancel on your mother and you can leave the suit on the table."

I like to think his "leave the suit on the table" statement is an idle threat. I've proven myself worthy of the job, and he certainly can't handle it on hi own anymore. Then again, he is such a stubborn old man.

Bruce enters the elevator, "We have to buy flowers before picking up your mother."

"Wait --we? Why we?"

"Your mother thinks you're my personal assistant. Its time she saw you assisting me," Bruce answers as the doors close.

I fling my bag into the corner and run up the stairs behind the old man, "you solve all your problems by throwing money at it?"

Bruce exit's the elevator, "Just the female ones."


End file.
